Word from the witches - Anon talks fairies part 2

Hiya, it's Anon here, the Anonymous Witch from the podcast Between Three Witches.

In my previous Words From the Witches episode, we explored the complexities, the iconography, and imagery of the fairies.

Now, I'll use the term fairy throughout this as more of a universal term.

However, dependent on belief system, personal experiences, or regional traditions, you may know them by different terms such as the fae, the sidhe, the others, the immortals, the land spirits, et cetera.

I mean, the list goes on.

And today I want to do a very gentle, deep dive into discussing this idea about the different realms or layers within fairy culture.

Now, the idea of fairy realms have an organized hierarchy, like kings and queens and noble ranks, developed gradually over centuries through a mix of Celtic folklore, romanticized medieval Christianity, court culture, and later occult traditions.

What we see, however, prior to this, is that fairies were not connected to elaborate fairy courts, but instead very much connected to the land.

They were considered supernatural and semi, and divine beings, and also connected to ancestral spirit.

This is more my belief system and mirrors my own personal experiences.

However, it is important for us to note both.

So we will start with this highest forming of ranks, which would be the royal courts, and eventually touch on the lower realms, as some people describe them as.

And what you will see is through my descriptions with a variety of different regional traditions and beliefs, you will see lots of overlaps, lots of parallels where these spirits or fairies could easily be classed within two levels at once.

So this is gonna get slightly complicated, so buckle up, buttercup, grab that coffee, sit back and relax.

Let's step into this magical realm and leave this world behind for just a moment.

As we go through this, you will note that this is a brief description.

I won't have enough time to mention the variety of beautiful spirits and beings that have been recorded through time within this podcast.

So please bear in mind there will be a variety of different spirits that I haven't mentioned.

And I also would like to apologize in advance to my Celtic neighbors, the Irish and the Scottish, because my pronunciation of some of your beautiful language will be absolutely appalling.

All right? So let's go.